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Spring Break anti-burglary tips

As we enter into Spring Break, the Macomb Police Department reminds you to be mindful of the security of your residence. Every year officers take reports after Spring Break of burglaries that occurred while students were on break. Don’t be a victim, protect your property. Once again though the Macomb Police Department urges you to take specific actions to protect your valuable property while you are away from Macomb between semesters.

Take your valuables home with you. Laptops, music players, video game systems and televisions are the most commonly stolen items over break. To reduce the chances that your stuff is stolen, take it home with you.

Make sure before you leave that all of your doors and windows are locked. The most common entry point for a burglar is a side or rear window. If they can find one unlocked then they can get in to your residence and walk out with your stuff. Not only should you lock your windows but we also suggest that you put a stick in the window to keep a burglar from pushing it upwards if they figure out how to bypass your lock.

Mark your items with your driver’s license number. As part of Operation ID we suggest that you use an engraver to mark those valuable items that you just cannot take with you. When you do this it makes it harder for a criminal to take the item to a pawn shop and pawn it with someone else’s driver’s license number already engraved on it. You can check out an engraver from the Macomb Police Department Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. In addition, Operation ID advises to make a list of all your valuables to include the make, model, serial number or detailed description. Photographs help too! This way if you do become a victim you can provide the reporting officer this detailed list of what was stolen. This helps us to try to recover your valuables.

Leave lights on in your residence and/or put them on a timer. If a residence looks like it is occupied then a burglar may bypass it.

The Macomb Police Department does it’s best to provide extra patrol to the northwest quadrant of town when students are on break however we cannot be everywhere. We ask you the student to help us reduce crime by taking your valuables home.

Ask a trusted friend or neighbor to periodically check on the residence.

If leaving town for more than a few days, stop mail and newspaper delivery, and also ask a trusted friend or neighbor to put out the trash bin on the designated day and move it from the curb after pick-up.